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[2018 Rugby Championship] Round 1: Australia v New Zealand (18/08/2018)

TRF_heineken

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Venue: ANZ Stadium
Time: 12:05 CAT (SA, GMT+2)
Teams

Australia: 15 Israel Folau, 14 Dane Haylett-Petty, 13 Reece Hodge, 12 Kurtley Beale, 11 Marika Koroibete, 10 Bernard Foley, 9 Will Genia, 8 David Pocock, 7 Michael Hooper (captain), 6 Lukhan Tui, 5 Adam Coleman, 4 Izack Rodda, 3 Sekope Kepu, 2 Tatafu Polota-Nau, 1 Tom Robertson

Substitutes: 16 Tolu Latu, 17 Allan Alaalatoa, 18 Taniela Tupou, 19 Rob Simmons, 20 Pete Samu, 21 Nick Phipps, 22 Matt Toomua, 23 Jack Maddocks.


New Zealand: 15 Ben Smith, 14 Waisake Naholo, 13 Jack Goodhue, 12 Ryan Crotty, 11 Rieko Ioane, 10 Beauden Barrett, 9 Aaron Smith, 8 Kieran Read (captain), 7 Sam Cane, 6 Liam Squire, 5 Sam Whitelock, 4 Brodie Retallick, 3 Owen Franks, 2 Codie Taylor, 1 Joe Moody

Substitutes: 16 Nathan Harris, 17 Karl Tu'inukuafe, 18 Ofa Tuungafasi, 19 Scott Barrett, 20 Ardie Savea, 21 TJ Perenara, 22 Damian McKenzie, 23 Anton Lienert-Brown
 
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I think this could be the closest Bledisloe Cup opener for quite a while. think the Wallabies should be competitive in every game against the AB's this year. mind you when the All Blacks are perceived to be under a bit of pressure they usually step up. nevertheless I'm going to take a bit of a punt and back the Wallabies by 3 points, 28-25.
 
mind you when the All Blacks are perceived to be under a bit of pressure they usually step up.

what pressure are the ABs under? imo they building nicely towards the WC. our forward pack have the incumbents, moody, franks, codieTaylor, retallick, whitelock, samCane, keiranRead with all the exciting new blood hemopo, frizell. have to say ABs are getting into great shape.

i'd love for the WBs to be competitive but i haven't seen anything to support this.
honestly i think bledisloe rivalry is dead
 
if
what pressure are the ABs under? imo they building nicely towards the WC. our forward pack have the incumbents, moody, franks, codieTaylor, retallick, whitelock, samCane, keiranRead with all the exciting new blood hemopo, frizell. have to say ABs are getting into great shape.

i'd love for the WBs to be competitive but i haven't seen anything to support this.
honestly i think bledisloe rivalry is dead

if you notice my post said the All Blacks are perceived to be under pressure, not that I think they're under pressure. the reason I said that the AB's are perceived to be under a bit of pressure is that there was quite a lot of negative press reaction to some of their performances against France, particularly the 2nd test when they were poor. I don't think the AB's are under pressure, I was basing my claim on several media articles that I have read. one thing i will agree with you on is that the Bledisloe Cup is now a miles poorer event than it was 15-20 years ago. you saw that last year where i don't think they got much above 50,000 for the game at Sydney. in the golden era of Aussie rugby you got 100,000 for a Bledisloe test at ANZ Stadium. also this year Cheika has no excuses, the Wallabies have had a trial game to prepare and the Waratahs got to the semis in super rugby, Australia shouldn't be rusty and shouldn't get blown away as they did last year. time will tell though.
 
NZ line will be predictable apart from who plays 14 and 15. Probably Smith and Jordie if the first two tests v France are anything to go by. 23 jersey?

Wallabies have more question marks on who MC will pick. I suspect front row of Sio, TPN, Kepu. But lock combo? Coleman and ? Not seen much of the new boy from the Reds. Back row - who will play at 6? They need a big 'un who can balance out the Pooper, plus give them a third line out option. Still think they are repeating the mistakes of the last RWC and ABs sussed out the Pooper combo and exploiting the lineout. Reece to 13? 6/2 bench split seems favoured by MC with Toomua covering the 23 Jersey.
 
... that there was quite a lot of negative press reaction to some of their performances against France...

thats the press creating click bait . the france tests wasnt really ABs fault. you can only ever play as good as the opposition push you to play. you can only play a great game against great opponents.
 
thats the press creating click bait . the france tests wasnt really ABs fault. you can only ever play as good as the opposition push you to play. you can only play a great game against great opponents.

the first and third tests weren't the All Blacks fault but they only won the 2nd test by 13 points after having an extra man for 60 minutes of the game. the All Blacks were poor in the 2nd test. it was interesting when France played better in the 1st half of the 3rd test it made the AB's raise their game. on that basis i don't know what to expect from the AB's on Saturday and to be honest I really don't know what the Wallabies will come up with. the Aussies are just so inconsistent, they can't seem to string two quality performances together, certainly under Cheika. it wouldn't surprise me to see Australia win in Sydney and then get annihilated at Eden Park the week after.
 
the first and third tests weren't the All Blacks fault but they only won the 2nd test by 13 points after having an extra man for 60 minutes of the game. the All Blacks were poor in the 2nd test. it was interesting when France played better in the 1st half of the 3rd test it made the AB's raise their game. on that basis i don't know what to expect from the AB's on Saturday and to be honest I really don't know what the Wallabies will come up with. the Aussies are just so inconsistent, they can't seem to string two quality performances together, certainly under Cheika. it wouldn't surprise me to see Australia win in Sydney and then get annihilated at Eden Park the week after.

so...still 12 more than needed? rather than looking at more or less meaningless friendlies mid super season lets look at the super form (canes and saders made it to the semis and saders won the final pretty comfortably) and then add a multiplier for a team now properly in camp and playing for the bledisloe....i think we'll win
 
ALL BLACKS:

Ben Smith, Waisake Naholo, Jack Goodhue, Ryan Crotty, Rieko Ioane, Beauden Barrett, Aaron Smith; Kieran Read (capt), Sam Cane, Liam Squire, Sam Whitelock, Brodie Retallick, Owen Franks, Codie Taylor, Joe Moody.

Reserves:

Nathan Harris, Karl Tu'inukuake, Ofa Tuungafasi, Scott Barrett, Ardie Savea, TJ Perenara, Damian McKenzie, Anton Lienert-Brown.

So Goodhue gets the nod at 13 and Naholo on the right wing.
 
https://www.theroar.com.au/2018/08/16/new-look-wallabies-hope-catch-blacks-hop/

The Roar seem to be reporting fake news:

A series draw with the touring British Lions and two separate defeats to the Wallabies last year throws open hope that the All Blacks can be exposed at a given time.

Strange only remember Wallabies winning one.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_rugby_union_matches_between_Australia_and_New_Zealand

According to Wiki the Wallabies have already won the match on 27 October 2018 by exactly the same scoreline as that of 21 October 2017.
 
ALL BLACKS:

Ben Smith, Waisake Naholo, Jack Goodhue, Ryan Crotty, Rieko Ioane, Beauden Barrett, Aaron Smith; Kieran Read (capt), Sam Cane, Liam Squire, Sam Whitelock, Brodie Retallick, Owen Franks, Codie Taylor, Joe Moody.
thats a d4m good forward pack.
and totally agree with the back 3. ALB i wouldve had ahead of goodhue but then again goodhue is shaping up to be just as classy as ALB
 
its odd that the press is predicting alot of bomb attacks from the WBs. even with folau, i wouldnt recommend kicking to this back 3
 
Wallabies:

Israel Folau, Dane Haylett-Petty, Reece Hodge, Kurtley Beale, Marika Koroibete, Bernard Foley, Will Genia, David Pocock, Michael Hooper (c), Lukhan Tui, Adam Coleman, Izack Rodda, Sekope Kepu, Tatafu Polota-Nau, Tom Robertson.

Reserves:

Tolu Latu, Allan Alaalatoa, Taniela Tupou, Rob Simmons, Pete Samu, Nick Phipps, Matt Toomua, Jack Maddocks.
 
No it shouldnt have been play on Marshall lol. Koroibete was slightly in front.
 

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